This invention concerns a device for killing insects especially flying insects and most especially flies. For the sake of brevity, the description provided hereafter will refer to the device primarily in its capacity to kill flies.
Certain 2-(nitromethylene)-1,3-thiazines and derivatives thereof are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,993,648, 4,501,742 and 4,065,560 as having useful insecticidal activity against the house fly (Musca domestica). The insecticidal activity of tetrahydro-2-(nitromethylene)-2H-1,3-thiazine (TNMT) and other nitromethylene heterocycles are disclosed in Pesticides and Venom Neurotoxicity, Shankland et al., pages 153 to 169 (1978). The physical, chemical and insecticidal properties of these compounds are further disclosed in Advances in Pesticide Science, Part 2, Geissbuhler et al., pages 206 to 217, Symposia Papers from Fourth International Congress of Pesticide Chemistry, July, 1978.
There are myriad patent disclosures of fly traps going back at least to the mid-1800's. One of the more recent patents on this subject matter is U.S. Pat. No. 4,310,985 which discloses use of the preferred toxicants described herein in an insect trap comprising a hollow base section having a containment cavity to hold the dead insects.
One primary distinction enjoyed by the devices of this invention over earlier flytraps is that the toxic area of the instant device comprises such a large proportion of the total surface area and is accessible and visible to target insects. No housing or other structural components are required for the device to be operative. There is no necessity to lure insects into an inner chamber or to entice them to any one portion of the surface.